The report noted that for the vice president, the public's knack for making fun of his skin color merely reminds him that Filipinos are now able to enjoy the fruits of their hard-earned freedom from the Marcos dictatorship. Binay, who worked as a human rights lawyer during the Martial Law period, "recalled being fined for laughing during a hearing on a sedition case against an anti-Marcos newspaper at the time."

"Every opportunity to joke and laugh at our officials, for me, is an unfailing reminder of our triumphs in battling the oppressive regime, one that repressed even the right to laugh-even at the most humorous moments," he said.